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Posted by ovoco5 on September 21, 2008, 8:56 pm
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Good evening,
I planted this tree four years ago, and for life of me I can't remember
what
it's called. I think it could be an Acer or Maple? but I'm not sure
at all.
Could someone please help me out with an ID.
[image: http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd270/ovoco5/tree.jpg]
One thing is for sure, it grows very fast from spring to summer. So
fast infact
it's branches stretch out so they become quite thin and
I've had one or two snap
in the wind.
I'd like to prune/cut it back for the spring time. Could someone advise
me too
as to when is the best time to do this.
Thank you in advance,
Cheers
Greg
--
ovoco5
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Posted by Kevin Cherkauer on September 21, 2008, 8:46 pm
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It looks like it could be a silver maple (Acer L.) (Acer saccharinum). This is a very
fast-growing, short-lived maple (Acer L.) tree. The town I grew up in had planted them
as street trees all over the place because they are fast growers, but they
drop a lot of seeds ("helicopters") that will sprout everywhere, drop loads
of bark and many small branches, and frequently will drop major branches in
a good windstorm (not to mention ice storm); they have shallow,
far-spreading roots that ruin the lawn and heave the sidewalk or driveway;
and they go into senescence and terminal decay after around 50 years, so
many consider them to be "trash" trees and many towns don't let them be
planted as street trees anymore.
Typical identifiers are a lighter green, slightly silvery underside to the
leaves that especially shows when it is windy, and a slightly silvery outer
bark that splits into long strips about an inch or two wide that peel off
and drop in great profusion as the trunk expands in diameter. Also the
helicopter seeds (once the tree reaches maturity) -- these dry to brown and
are single, with a little egg-shaped seed at one end. They are very good
twirlers and may be carried quite far in the wind. A gust of wind will start
a rain of hundreds or thousands of these at a time from a big tree. (Compare
to the "helicopters" of Norway maples (Acer L.) which usually have flat seeds and
often come fused together into Siamese twin pairs that makes them much
poorer at any kind of flight. :-)
On the bright side, if the tree is located far enough from buildings and
pavement, they will produce wonderful shade over a huge area in many fewer
decades than it would take to achieve the same benefits from a less
ephemeral species like an oak.
Utopia in Decay
http://home.comcast.net/~kevin.cherkauer/site
Kevin Cherkauer
>
> Good evening,
>
> I planted this tree four years ago, and for life of me I can't remember
> what it's called. I think it could be an Acer or Maple? but I'm not sure
> at all. Could someone please help me out with an ID.
>
> [image: http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd270/ovoco5/tree.jpg]
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Posted by Kevin Cherkauer on September 21, 2008, 8:55 pm
If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
PS. The roots will also tend to infiltrate sewer lines and clog them.
It looks like it could be a silver maple (Acer saccharinum). This is a very
fast-growing, short-lived maple tree. The town I grew up in had planted them
as street trees all over the place because they are fast growers, but they
drop a lot of seeds ("helicopters") that will sprout everywhere, drop loads
of bark and many small branches, and frequently will drop major branches in
a good windstorm (not to mention ice storm); they have shallow,
far-spreading roots that ruin the lawn and heave the sidewalk or driveway;
and they go into senescence and terminal decay after around 50 years, so
many consider them to be "trash" trees and many towns don't let them be
planted as street trees anymore.
Typical identifiers are a lighter green, slightly silvery underside to the
leaves that especially shows when it is windy, and a slightly silvery outer
bark that splits into long strips about an inch or two wide that peel off
and drop in great profusion as the trunk expands in diameter. Also the
helicopter seeds (once the tree reaches maturity) -- these dry to brown and
are single, with a little egg-shaped seed at one end. They are very good
twirlers and may be carried quite far in the wind. A gust of wind will start
a rain of hundreds or thousands of these at a time from a big tree. (Compare
to the "helicopters" of Norway maples (Acer L.) which usually have flat seeds and
often come fused together into Siamese twin pairs that makes them much
poorer at any kind of flight. :-)
On the bright side, if the tree is located far enough from buildings and
pavement, they will produce wonderful shade over a huge area in many fewer
decades than it would take to achieve the same benefits from a less
ephemeral species like an oak.
Utopia in Decay
http://home.comcast.net/~kevin.cherkauer/site
Kevin Cherkauer
>
> Good evening,
>
> I planted this tree four years ago, and for life of me I can't remember
> what it's called. I think it could be an Acer or Maple? but I'm not sure
> at all. Could someone please help me out with an ID.
>
> [image: http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd270/ovoco5/tree.jpg]
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Posted by ovoco5 on September 22, 2008, 3:36 pm
If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
Thanks for the Info - yes it must be a Silver Maple. They do grow very
quick
and It's getting to the stage I need to prune it!
So can anyone suggest when the best time of year is to prune such a
tree. In the
winter time it looses it's leafs, so would that have any
bearing on when I
should prune it ?
Also whilst talking of pruning does anyone have a link to a website
that
explains the best practices of pruning a tree ?
Thanks for your help,
Cheers
Greg
--
ovoco5
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Posted by Sheldon on September 22, 2008, 12:48 pm
If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
e:
> Good evening,
>
> I planted this tree four years ago, and for life of me I can't remember
> what it's called. I think it could be an Acer or Maple? but I'm not sure
> at all. Could someone please help me out with an ID.
>
> [image:http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd270/ovoco5/tree.jpg]
>
> One thing is for sure, it grows very fast from spring to summer. So
> fast infact it's branches stretch out so they become quite thin and
> I've had one or two snap in the wind.
>
> I'd like to prune/cut it back for the spring time. Could someone advise
> me too as to when is the best time to do this.
Yup, they grow fast and huge... can easily reach 80' tall and 60'
wide. Is that your house I see there? Now is the time to remove it.
It's way too close to your house, won't be long its branches will be
directly on and over your roof. Silver maple is a very weak wooded
tree
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